Easy and Effective Public Speaking Tips

Not many few abilities will usher vast opportunities into your life than public speaking skills. Here are top tips that can help you become a speaker who makes a strong, positive impact on your audience:

Speak wanting to motivate people to move. You should know what exactly you want your audience to do as soon as you’re done with your speech. If they don’t want to do anything apart from what they have been doing before, your speech is practically useless.

Begin strong with an attention grabber. This can be a personal story, an interesting statistic or a touching quote from a famous person – whatever will capture your audience’ attention and keep it until they open themselves to what you have to say. Give people a good view of how you connect personally to your subject.

Give your material structure. The best way to structure your speech is to divide it into three parts - your grabber, middle and close. Master your material and be enthusiastic about your subject. Always find interesting stories.

Keep practicing. Practice loud and clear with every piece of equipment you intend to use. Avoid filler words and memorize flow, not sentences. Time yourself and leave room for the unanticipated.

Get to know your audience. Try welcoming a few people as they arrive at the venue. They will be your friends while you speak, and talking to friends is always easier and more comfortable than to anyone else.

Get familiar with the venue and equipment. Arrive early so you have time to check out the area and practice with the mic, visual aids and everything else you will be using.

Imagine yourself making a blast. Picture yourself wrapping up your speech with people eager to ask questions or with loud applause.

Pause. According to experts like Moxie public speaking, you should pause for about three to eight seconds at important moments in your speech, usually just before you deliver a key statement or right after you tell a story. This technique is proven to actually strike a chord in your audience and get them deeper into your speech.

Ignore your mistakes. If you think you made a mistake or you uttered words that were not really part of your plan, don’t go back and correct yourself. If you do, that might be the only time they’d notice.

Smile. Smiling gives the impression that your speech is important to you. If your audience doesn’t get that, it will be difficult for them to feel that it should matter to them as well.